


still got love to give

by tagteamme



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe- They're All Enormous Nerds, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Mentions of slap fights, Romance, Splenda Daddy Keith, his burger flipping money, keith likes spending his money on shiro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 03:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13627857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tagteamme/pseuds/tagteamme
Summary: Shiro leaves junior year a gangly nerd and comes back senior year as a tall, well-built nerd with a Mysterious Bad Boy on a Bike™ for a boyfriend.





	still got love to give

**Author's Note:**

> I said I'd never write a Highschool AU, yet here we are. Here we are.

 

There are three things everyone notices about newly-minted senior Takashi Shirogane when he comes back from summer break.

First, he’s filled out. A lot. It’s thanks to a combination of a growth spurt finally pushing him past six feet, and Matt Holt’s ten step exercise program that got him a 90 in gym class. Matt Holt is still scrawny, but he’s too busy selling copies of his plan to all the other highschool boys and using Shiro as his poster boy to care.

Second, his braces have come off. Shiro’s always had a warm and welcoming demeanour, but now that there’s no metal obscuring it and his bangs have started to flop in front of his eyes, it tips itself well into the range of heart-melting.

Third, he’s got a new friend now. A friend with a black leather jacket  that drops him off on the first day of school on an old, loud, and violently red Yamaha sports bike. They roll up to school, and said friend revs the engine once for the passer-bys that are trying to hide the fact that they’re staring at one of the star Mathletes of the school sliding off a motorcycle, looking significantly beefier than he was a few months ago.

He takes off his helmet, and the guy on the bike flips up his visor. No one gets a good look at Shiro’s friend’s face; no one really bothers. Shiro taps the side of the guy’s helmet, and he rolls his eyes. Shiro’s friend unbuckles his helmet and slides it off, revealing a messy shock of black hair and a face of a boy poised to kill. Shiro grins and whispers something to his friend, and his friend gives him a flat look before fisting a hand in his sweater and yanking him forward.

Amendment— the third thing everyone notices is that Shiro’s got a _boyfriend_ now.

Shiro gets dropped off every Monday, Thursday and Friday by the mysterious guy. Each day, he gets pulled in for a show-boating kiss at the front doors of the school, before the guy puts his helmet on, throws down his visor with a wink and gives a two fingered salute. Everything about mystery guy screams bad news in the best way, and it makes a couple of hearts flutter. Each time, Shiro watches the guy drive off with a dopey smile before running a hand through his hair and ducking to hide his face. That too sends a group of people swooning, because there’s nothing more appealing than a guy that’s both flustered and that looks like he’s been injected with some super serum. It’s enough to make them forget that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Shiro drives to school in his grandpa’s beige Dodge Caravan.

 

* * *

 

“So uh,” Lance sidles up beside Matt in the cafeteria during lunch period, and Matt turns away. “Hey, look at me.”

“No,” Matt says, because Lance is a junior that loves to hero-worship and Matt’s a senior and that automatically disqualifies Lance from being allowed to interact with him.

“Did Shirogane get a boyfriend?” Lance asks anyways, eyeing the empty spot where Shiro normally sits.

“No,” Matt turns back to Lance, just to give him a flat look. It’s been a month since school started, and a month since everyone’s been informally introduced to Shiro’s chauffeur. “The guy he spent five minutes making out with in the parking lot before they left for lunch is just a friend.”

“You never know,” Lance points out, and Matt rolls his eyes.

“His name’s Keith,” Matt says. “He’s a senior and he goes to school on the other end of town.”

Silence follows for a good thirty seconds. Matt continues to scoop vaguely flavoured pudding into his mouth while contemplating whether or not to go to Sal’s Diner after school. They still have their back-to-school special for five bucks, and Matt has seven in his wallet.

“Is that it?” Lance asks, and Matt raises an eyebrow.

“Is what it?” He asks, taking an exaggerated lick of his spoon. Lance makes a face.

“Do you know how they met?” Lance prods, and Matt shrugs.

He does, and he doesn’t. He knows that on a warm night in April, he left Shiro behind at the rec centre where they play indoor soccer. Matt’s ride had arrived before Shiro’s, so Shiro told Matt he was going to go get a burger from the concession stand. Matt’s unsure of what happened in whatever happened in between him leaving Shiro and Shiro’s grandpa picking him up, but it led to Shiro calling Matt four days later with a hushed but excited, “ _I think I have a boyfriend now_?”.

Matt’s yet to meet the guy formally. He’s just gotten stories from Shiro about how he can’t believe someone this _cool_ is paying attention to him, how Keith’s got a _motorcycle_ , how Keith keeps telling Shiro he thinks Shiro’s _hot_. Matt draws the line when Shiro starts talking baseball analogies, but in general, he’s happy for Shiro. Shiro’s a nerd extraordinaire who’s spent most of his life being asked to dances platonically, with the exception of one girl he dated for three weeks in sophomore year. He might look like a heartbreaker now, but Keith hooked Shiro in when Shiro had badly cut bangs, braces, and was only on step two of Matt’s “10 Steps to Getting Deezed” guide. So, Matt trusts him.

Now that Lance’s brought it up though, Matt wants to meet him.

At the end of lunch, Shiro comes back a little red in the face. Matt’s about to point out that he’s got a visible hickey right around his adam’s apple, but gets side tracked by the large bag Shiro’s carrying.

“What’s that?” He asks, tipping his chin towards the bag.

“Keith got me a gift,” Shiro says almost shyly, and Matt gestures for him to go on. Shiro sets the bag down and pulls out an earthy green box. He pops it open and Matt’s eyes widen a little. It’s a pair of black Timbs that, which while common at their school, are way out of both Matt and Shiro’s visual league.

Matt _really_ wants to meet Keith.

 

* * *

 

Shiro’s never, ever skipped a class. Even when there’s a substitute teacher, he’s one of the two people that’ll attend anyways. Allura thinks about this as she watches Shiro scoop up his mysterious boyfriend – _Keith?_ Matt and Lance had both told her, but she had neither cared nor paid attention at the time – from the window of the third period calculus class they share. He spins the guy around, before setting him down and getting pulled into a kiss. It’s really cute, but their teacher is bringing down hell on them and Allura counts on Shiro to take down the notes she misses. She’s already texted him once, and has seen him pull his phone out of his pocket and ignore it in real time.

His boyfriend keeps a hand around the back of his neck, and kisses the tip of Shiro’s nose before digging into his jacket pocket. He pulls out what looks like a pair of black leather gloves and as soon as he slides them onto Shiro’s hands, Allura swears Shiro’s transformed. He’s wearing an ugly purple sweatshirt with light denim jeans, a classically ugly Shiro staple no matter how much he starts to imitate a brickhouse. But when he puts the gloves on somehow make him seem like someone that’s actually genuinely _cool._ Shiro gives his boyfriend  – yeah, he looks like a Keith – another kiss and— oh, they’re making out now. Keith slides his hands down and it’s his turn to lift up Shiro, as if they’re in a terrible clothing commercial. Allura turns her attention back to the blackboard in front of her, where the professor’s furiously scribbling away with chalk like they’re still in the late nineties.

Shiro hasn’t told her about his boyfriend yet, but that’s because they haven’t had time in their past couple of Mathlete meetings. It’s their final year and they’re gunning for a great one, so Allura’s fine not knowing for a little longer. Someone always ends up over-sharing anyways.

 

* * *

 

 

Objectively, Katie’s brother is ugly. So are almost all his friends with the exception of Shiro, who’s too genuinely nice to ever be qualified as ugly, even when he was Matt’s height and had back acne.

“Matt’s not coming to school today,” Katie informs him as she slips into the passenger seat of Shiro’s minivan. “It smells like fry oil in here.”

“I gave a ride home to a friend yesterday,” Shiro frowns. “Why’s Matt not coming?”

“I’ll tell you while we drive,” Katie insists, “We don’t want to be late.”

The front door of her house slams, and Matt comes rushing out with a half open backpack, an unpeeled orange in his mouth because he’s a barbarian, and his hair sticking up on all ends. Katie groans as he slides open the door to the middle seat, and ignores the flat look Shiro gives her.

“Why does it smell like fry oil?” Matt’s words come out muffled around his orange as he buckles in.

“Pidge said you weren’t coming to school,” Shiro tells him, and Matt laughs and reaches forward to ruffle Katie’s hair.

“Don’t call me that,” She grumps as Shiro starts to pull out of their driveway. “Traitor.”

“This smell is really concentrated dude,” Matt says from where he’s sprawled across the cream seats. For whatever reason, Shiro’s ears start to go a little red. “God, what did you do in here?”

Before Shiro can answer, Matt lets out some sort of weird noise, and despite the fact that Shiro’s _driving_ , Matt throws a black shirt at the driver’s seat. Shiro sputters and Katie sighs as she peels the shirt off and shakes it out, and is suddenly hit with the strongest smell of days-old food she’s ever smelled in her life.

There’s also a nametag on it that says _KEITH_ in big blocky letters pinned to the right side of the shirt.

“Ew,” Katie says, tossing the shirt onto the dash and shaking her hands out. “Is this your boyfriend’s?”

Matt, despite being three years older, lets out some sort of weird animal screech. Katie can hear him shuffling in the back seat and rolls her eyes. Shiro’s redness has creeped into the rest of his face, and he starts to spit out half formed sentences while Matt accuses him of soiling the sanctity of his grandfather’s car.

“I just gave him a ride home from work,” Shiro insists, as if that explains why Keith’s shirt was found on the floor of the middle bench in the minivan. “He forgot his bus pass and he doesn’t take his bike.”

“Did you rub him all over the backseat?” Matt starts, then catches what he says. “Don’t answer that.”

“He bought me dinner,” Shiro says this in an insisting voice, as if it explains anything. “Also, Pidge is here.”

“I’m fourteen,” Katie scowls at Shiro, and he looks sheepish while Matt continues bleating about having to sit on desecrated grounds. She makes an adjustment to her previous statement— _all_ of Matt’s friends are ugly, just like Matt.

Matt starts on a tangent on how Shiro shouldn’t think he owes anyone anything just because they buy him food, and Shiro tells Matt that sometimes people do things with other people because they like and respect them. Katie knows he’s using vague terms because for whatever reason, they think she’s still an infant, despite the fact that their combined brain power equals to maybe a tenth of hers. Katie plugs her earphones in to drown out the noise and wonders if she can get dropped off a block away so that no one in the ninth grade knows she knows them.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance gets to properly meet Keith the same time Matt gets to properly meet Keith. Given that Matt and Shiro are close, Lance feels some kind of vindictive joy at meeting Keith at the same time as Matt.

Shiro picks Matt and Lance up at Lance’s house, where they’ve been arguing over Allura for the better part of an hour. She’s out of both their leagues and they haven’t worked up enough courage or game to have more than a three line conversation with her, but they’ve both developed some sort of competitiveness over her. Shiro pulls up in the familiar beige minivan, and Keith’s already beat them both to shotgun.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Matt says, sticking out his hand when he gets into the car. Keith twists in his seat to shake it, taking long enough that Lance has time to shove Matt’s hand out of the way and offer his own.

“I’m Lance,” He says with a toothy grin. “I’m Shiro’s best-”

“ _I’m_ Shiro’s best friend,” Matt talks over Lance and pushes at his shoulder. Keith offers a hand to Matt as well, but him and Lance have already devolved into a bickering fight over who’s actually Shiro’s best friend. Lance knows the answer isn’t him, but he loves to instigate.

They’re going to the mall because Shiro’s finally, _finally_ decided that he needs to buy clothes that fit his new and hard-earned body. Lance is still waiting for his own second puberty to hit, but he’s sure it’ll come in college if not now. Shiro originally was planning to just bring Matt, but decided he wanted Keith and Matt to meet, so brought Keith along too. Matt decided to bring Lance, because Allura said no and that’s the extent of their friend circle.

Lance learns a bunch of things within the first ten minutes of their arrival. He learns that Keith is a senior in the school across town, and that he likes to go dirt-biking. He learns that Keith’s on the quieter side, and that it takes Shiro five minutes to stop blushing after Keith takes his hand. He learns that Keith works at the same place as Hunk, and Lance makes note to grill Hunk about Keith later on.

Lance also learns that his knee-jerk reaction to anyone with a mullet is to make fun of them, repeatedly, like he’s lost all motor control over his own mouth.

“So like,” Lance starts as they walk into the third store of the day. The first two were apparently too edgy for Shiro’s taste. “You’re bringing the 90s back, right? That’s what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Keith frowns, moving Shiro’s arm so that it’s wrapped around his shoulders.

“I can’t think of any other reason someone would have a mullet,” Lance tells him, and Keith narrows his eyes.

“My hair just grows weird,” Keith says defensively.

“I like it,” Shiro says, like someone asked his opinion to begin with. Keith smiles and they kiss and Lance reminisces for the days that all three of them were pathetic and single. Well technically, Matt still tells Lance he’s not part of their friend group but Matt’s running a game of denial he’s never going to win.

Lance learns that Keith likes to spend money on Shiro. A _lot_ of money.

The three of them collectively agree that it’s okay for Shiro to wear shirts that he doesn’t drown in. When Shiro steps out in a snug white t-shirt and jeans that aren’t too short for him, Lance gives a wolf whistle while Matt congratulates Shiro on finally looking fit for consumption. Keith reaches forward and pats down Shiro’s chest with an appreciative hum and a “This looks nice on you, babe.” When Shiro changes and comes back out, he holds up three other similar shirts in black, grey, and moss green, and asks which one he should get. Lance says green. Matt says black and white. Keith tells Shiro to get all four of them, and the jeans, _and_ a dark wash version of the same jeans, because Keith wants to gift them to Shiro.

Lance and Matt both bug their eyes out a little, and Shiro protests whole-heartedly.

“That’s too much,” He insists, but Keith shrugs and smiles at Shiro, big and toothy. It scares Lance a little, but somehow seems to work on Shiro. Keith doesn’t blink an eye at the total, and Lance reminds himself to ask Hunk how much money he makes where he works.

Another thing Lance learns is that Keith likes to take pictures. He takes a photo of Shiro in an ugly graphic tee, of Shiro wearing a Aloha shirt, of Shiro trying on something that should have been left back in the early 2000s. He even takes a picture of Matt and Lance when Lance sticks his finger in Matt’s ear. Shiro and Keith trail behind as they walk towards the foodcourt, and when Lance spins on his heels to tell them to hurry up, he sees Keith holding up his phone while Shiro presses a kiss to the top of his head. Keith’s got a genuine smile on, and it’s somehow scarier than the last one.

“Hey uglies,” Lance cups his hands against his mouth and calls out. “Let’s get moving. I’m hungry.”

Keith pays for Shiro’s lunch as well. Shiro strong-arms his way into paying for their matching mango-banana smoothies, but Keith compensates for it by offering to buy both Matt and Lance the five for five taco deal at one of the shops. It’s a way of buying into their friendship, and Matt and Lance both happily accept it despite Shiro sternly telling them not to.

“I like him,” Matt tells Shiro when Keith goes to the washroom. “That’s a real nice sugar daddy you got there.”

Shiro splutters on his Sprite, and shoves Matt.

“He’s not my sugar daddy,” Shiro says. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“ _He’s my boyfriend_ ,” Lance mocks and makes a pinched expression. “What’s with all that money he dropped then?”

“It’s only a few shirts,” Shiro insists and Matt levels him with a knowing look. “I buy him things too!”

Lance is about to ask him to give examples when Keith rejoins them.

“What are you guys talking about?” He asks, and Matt and Lance immediately clam up.

“Nothing,” They reply in unison, and both give Shiro the best shit-eating grins they can muster.

 

* * *

 

 

There are a few things teachers dread. Supervising school dances tops that list, but the glint in the president of the student body’s eyes when some bright kid suggests a kissing booth for one of the weekend winter charity fundraisers comes close second. Coran’s a good sport, moreso than Alfor despite his daughter being the reason behind the kissing booth, and agrees to supervise the booth.

The picks for the kissing booth doesn’t surprise Coran. He’s got an acute awareness of his students, and it doesn’t surprise him to see Shiro set up a little jar at his table in the gymnasium, labeled with his name. Shiro’s one of the three people who came back from the summer a few inches taller, and that tends to give the juniors and sophomores giant googly eyes. The other is Lotor, whose height now matches his personality, and who is setting his jar beside Shiro. Allura shoves Lotor aside and sets up her own things in between the two of them. It’s probably for the better, because Lotor likes to pull ears, and Shiro’s not quite mastered the art of the rebuttal.

Coran’s there to make sure no one gets too eager with any of the kissers, though he’s going to sit off in a corner on his phone until trouble calls. He really doesn’t want to look at high-schoolers swapping spit, and would rather work on curating the social pages he runs for his dogs.

There’s a long line for all three of them when the fundraiser officially starts, and Coran occasionally looks up to check that everything’s going okay. It’s mostly giggling freshmen on dares from their friends, one or two secret admirers who don’t know how to get their point across otherwise, and a few of their own friends, trying to tease them. He watches as Lance calls Lotor ugly, then deposits a dollar bill into his jar and gives him an expectant look. Given that an insult was exchanged, Coran’s sadly obliged to keep an eye on the situation, lest it become a confrontation.

Lotor just gives Lance a flat look, before framing his face in his hands and puckering his lips. Lance starts making noises like a chicken, and Coran guesses it’s because he didn’t expect Lotor to actually take the bait. There’s an excruciatingly long second of Lotor glaring at Lance a few millimeters away from his face, before he presses his lips briefly, _quite_ briefly against Lance’s. They both immediately break apart and start wiping their mouths and making noises, while Allura cackles and Shiro’s focused on kissing an extremely nervous junior on the cheek. Coran hopes that by next week, he’s forgotten he ever saw this, and returns to scrolling through his photo gallery.

When he looks up next, there’s an unfamiliar boy sidling up to Shiro’s section of the table. He’s got a red cropped jacket over a black shirt and black jeans, with white worn out sneakers. He’s got an effortlessly cool look about him, and Coran knows is code for a kid that has confidence in his lack of style. He presses two leather-clad fingers to his forehead in a salute to Shiro, and Coran can see Shiro go pink.

It’s a dollar per kiss, and the kid drops a ten into Shiro’s jar. Coran raises his eyebrows.

“How many does that get me?” The kid asks, in a voice that screams _Mysterious Bad Boy_ on the surface but _I Spend More Time Online than Outside_ on a deeper level. Shiro grins wide and the kid leans in to kiss him mid-smile. Allura lets out a wolf-whistle while Lotor makes a gagging sound, and Coran goes back to looking at his phone.

When he looks up exactly eight minutes later to check on the booth, the kid in the jacket’s _still_ at Shiro’s section. He’s sliding in another five, on top of a growing pile of bills that Coran’s sure has been all from one donor.

“I think you should just close down, Shirogane,” Lotor suggests, and no one listens to him.

Shiro looks blissfully ignorant of the agitated people waiting in line behind the guy who is presumably his boyfriend, all too happy to smooch just one person. Somehow, they’re adhering to rules of the booth, kissing briefly on the lips before breaking apart, laughing, and kissing again. It’s cute, it’s pure, and Coran’s going to use this as an excuse to get out of chaperoning the spring formal.

 

* * *

 

Hunk’s favourite co-worker is Keith, hands-down. They somehow end up getting scheduled together the most, probably because both of them emit a false air of responsibility around them. The manager trusts them, and has somehow not picked up on the fact that they like to steal fries and chicken wings and pretend that they drop hot dogs so that they can sneak them to the back and eat them. Everyone else thinks Keith’s a stone-faced loner, but Hunk knows it’s more because Keith’s a night owl and he’s the only one who lets it visibly show on his face how soul-crushingly boring the job is.

Currently, there are no customers, and a whole lot of cleaning to do at the back. The manager’s stepped out, so Hunk sees how many fries he can throw into Keith’s mouth from across the stand. He’s also catching up with Keith, because Lance told him one of his friends started dating a motorcycle-riding bad boy, and Hunk’s smart enough to make the connection between that and the kid who’s been coming to say hi to Keith since the beginning of summer, who he’s seen Lance wave to in the mall a few times.

“How’s your boyfriend?” Hunk asks, chucking an overly-cripsed fry into Keith’s mouth. The fry hits Keith’s nose and slides off his face, Keith making a noble attempt to catch it.

“He's good,” Keith replies, letting the fry fall. “He's got a competition coming up so I'm going to go cheer him on.”

“Math thing, right?” Hunk asks, like he's not going to be there as well. Keith doesn't know that yet, and nods. “Is he gonna make you wear his jersey?”

Keith lets out a short bark of laughter at that, and Hunk chucks another fry. Keith manages to catch this one. Lance has been prodding Hunk about Keith, asking how much Hunk knows. From what Hunk can tell, everyone at Lance's school thinks that Keith is a leather-clad, motorcycle driving bad boy with tons of cash to spare. Hunk doesn't bother to clear the air of mystery, because it amuses him to no end to hear about Keith appearing cool and suave to others while knowing he drinks straight from the Slurpee machine after closing.

He's guessing no one's been told that Shiro and Keith met when Keith smelled like fry oil and was lazily flipping a burger. As soon as Keith had walked up to the counter and called out the food order, as soon as Shiro had shyly raised his hand and approached him, Hunk had known they were gone for each other. Shiro looked like he operated on the same level of nerdiness as Keith, and Hunk let them stutter over a first conversation while he took care of the other customers. It was a good pick on Keith's part, because it's been while now and Shiro looks less like a dweeb and more like a model in dweeb clothing.

“I got a gift to give him after the competition,“ Keith says, stepping back further away. Hunk’s not quite sure they’ll make the distance, but there’s still no customers, so he attempts anyways. “It’s an engraved graphing calculator.”

Hunk pauses, and squints his eyes.

“A what now?” He asks, and Keith shrugs.”How is that romantic?”

“His calculator broke,” Keith replies, as if that’s a perfectly normal explanation. Hunk accepts it, just like he’s accepted the fact that Keith also has a weak spot for spending his money on Shiro.

Keith’s great at saving money, and that hasn’t changed; but he’s also been picking up extra shifts at work so that he can buy things for Shiro. Hunk doesn’t think Shiro’s a gold digger, because Shiro seems too nice for it, and also had shown up at work a few times with his own gifts. They’ve ranged from something sweet, like a pair of tickets to Medieval Times, to something strangely outdated like an MP3 player that doesn’t have a touch screen, despite Keith having a fully functional phone. Each gift has been met with Keith dipping out of the stand to meet Shiro,  smiling so hard that his face looks like it’s going to break, and one of them picking the other up and spinning them around.

Hunk manages to sink a couple more fries before they start getting customers again. He mans the cash while Keith drops food into the fryers or onto the grill, and they make it through the next half an hour well enough until trouble arrives.

It comes in the form of Lotor, who went to the same computer camp as Hunk from middle school to sophomore year. Lotor’s nice enough when he’s not a shit starter, but being a shit starter seems to be his default setting. It’s gotten worse since he came back one summer with a British accent that he’s yet to drop, despite having gone to the UK for only two weeks. He comes sometimes to the rec centre to watch his best friend play soccer, but never comes to the actual stand. Apparently the smell of fry oil gives him hives, and Hunk can’t blame him for that.

“Hunk,” Lotor winks at Hunk, and Hunk’s not quite sure why. “Who do we have here?”

Keith frowns at Lotor for a second, before his face relaxes.

“You’re from Shiro’s school right?” He asks. “I saw you at the kissing booth.”

Lotor looks impressed at this, and Hunk can’t tell the reasoning behind that either. He does see a rather familiar expression cross Lotor’s face, one that’s a little too scheming.

“What’s your order?” He asks, even though there’s no one in line behind Lotor for Hunk to be rushing him.

"You’re Shiro’s boyfriend, right?” Lotor asks Keith, and Keith nods. “Didn’t expect you to be working here.”

“Why not?” Keith asks, genuine. Lotor doesn’t reply, just pinches his eyebrows and smiles knowingly. He orders a hot chocolate and a hot dog, and takes an extensively long time in pulling out his wallet. He maintains eye contact with Keith the entire time, and Keith for his part just looks faintly disturbed. When Lotor leaves, he turns to Hunk with a “What was that about?” and Hunk shakes his head.

“It’s better we don’t know,” He says sagely. “Wanna make some wings?”

 

* * *

 

Kolivan only gets called out if a fight gets serious. His mere presence is enough to make kids scatter, or at least look somewhat remorseful at their actions. Thankfully, so far this year no fight has gotten that serious.

 _“I think they’re actually getting into it,”_ Alfor tells him helpfully over the walkie-talkie, and Kolivan pinches the bridge of his nose. If he’s heard correctly, star-pupil Takashi Shirogane’s getting into it with the other, more popular star pupil, Lotor, over the fact that Lotor’s been making fun of Shirogane’s boyfriend in front of the entire school. This happens three times a year on the minimum, and each time Alfor takes more time relaying the details to Kolivan than he does actually breaking up a fight. Not that a good majority of the fights ever get past the posturing stage.

But Kolivan’s been beckoned and Thace is busy, so Kolivan must go and scare everyone off. He’s glad he doesn’t have to put much effort into doing so; being the principal helps, so does being an ex-NFL player. With a sigh, he heaves himself out of the office and towards the commotion in the cafeteria.

Shirogane’s lifting Lotor up by the collar, while a smaller guy in a black leather jacket and a Visitor’s Pass lanyard tries to convince him to put him down.

“Hey, it’s not a big deal,” The kid says, but Shiro and Lotor are too busy glaring daggers into each other. Lotor’s got half a grin on, and it makes the headache Kolivan felt forming at the first buzz of his pager expand tenfold. “Shiro, drop him.”

“Listen to your splenda daddy,” Lotor says, and the older Holt kid’s holding up his phone, recording the entire thing gleefully. “Otherwise he’s gonna cut you off.”

Kolivan’s not a hundred percent sure that qualifies as an insult, but Shiro shakes Lotor anyways. Immediately, Lotor’s friends crowd them and Kolivan speeds up his legs because when more than two people get physically involved, it’s trouble. But before he can do anything, the kid in leather’s broken the two apart, and stands with a hand pressed on each of their chests. No one’s noticed Kolivan yet, too invested in the drama unfolding in front of them.

“Why does it matter where I work?” The kid asks, and Lotor shrugs.

“I just love knowing that Shiro’s cool and mysterious boyfriend actually just flips burgers,” he drawls and the crowd goes _oooh_.

“I’m in highschool,” The kid says, voice indignant. “What else am I supposed to do?”

Kolivan agrees with the sentiment, especially because half the crowd reacting works in some sort of concession or fast food restaurant. He sees a shamefully large number of students when he ends up hunting for food after drinking nights with friends, and he wants to know why there are so many kids working the night shift at burger joints when they have school the next day. Lotor’s probably just looking for trouble, as teenage boys do, and Kolivan’s not  surprised that Shirogane fell for the bait.

“It’s okay,” Lotor replies, moving Keith’s hand off of him. “I’m just happy _someone_ took an interest in Shiro.”

The hand is back on Lotor’s chest, this time fisting his shirt and yanking him forward.

“What do you mean?” Keith demands, and Lotor says something back that Kolivan can’t quite hear. What happens next is exactly what Kolivan dreads seeing, because it means he has to put in a genuine effort into breaking up the fight, and also because it’s generally embarrassing to watch.

Not that he’s going to actively complain about the latter; he’s glad that the kid and Lotor have devolved into a slap-fight instead of throwing actual punches, focused more on pulling hair and smacking arms instead of knocking teeth. Lotor gets a hold of the kid’s leather jacket and tugs, and the kid lets his arm slip out, only to smack Lotor over the head with it. With a world-weary sigh, Kolivan clears his throat. The students around him start parting like a wave, and Kolivan trudges towards the epicentre of the crowd. He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at Shirogane, whose eyes widen when he realizes Kolivan’s here.

“Guys,” He makes a noble attempt to stop his friends. “Guys, stop–”

They don’t listen, so Kolivan clears his throat again, louder and more guttural. It has an instantaneous effect, and both parties involved freeze. The kid looks confused, while Lotor and Shiro look appropriately terrified. And then, as if Kolivan’s not going to pull them out of class in after lunch and ask them to explain themselves while giving them a lecture on behaviour, they scram.

 

* * *

 

They’ve been dating for almost seven months now, and Keith can’t think of anything he won’t do for Shiro. It’s meant dropping paychecks on him, waking up extra early so that they can spend some time before class, and defending his honour in front of the school cafeteria. It currently means shimmying up the tree that’s beside Shiro’s house, dropping onto the roof, and knocking on Shiro’s window till he opens, all while it’s absolutely frigid outside.

“Knock on the door like a normal person,” Shiro hisses when he opens up the window, and hauls Keith in by the shoulders. Keith doesn’t get a chance to get his feet to touch the ground because Shiro holds onto him as he quickly closes his windows. Aside from the fact that Shiro’s genuinely the best human being Keith’s ever gotten to know, Keith also has a deep appreciation for the fact that he filled out over the summer and can hold up Keith like he’s nothing.

“What if your grandpa answers?” Keith teases, and Shiro goes a little red. Keith’s pretty sure Shiro’s grandfather likes him, because he ruffles his hair and pinches his ear every time he sees Keith and asks him about how he’s doing in school. Keith’s answer always puts a smile on Shiro’s grandfather’s face, and it’s probably the one reason he allows Shiro out on Keith’s motorcycle.

Shiro’s hang-ups come entirely from the fact that they were caught making out on the couch on the living room  when his grandfather came home early from work, and he’s not been able to move past the embarrassment of the situation. It’s part of the reason why Keith’s sneaking up to his room like they’re in a turn of the century coming-of-age TV show, and not walking in through the front door like a normal person. The other part is because this has been the relationship where Keith’s been able to act like the cool, suave, leather-clad boyfriend, and he’s enjoying every moment of it.

Instead of answering, Shiro sets Keith down and plants a sweet kiss on the corner of his mouth. Keith draws him in for something better, and walks Shiro backwards till his knees hit his mattress. He pushes Shiro down by the shoulders till he’s sitting, and Shiro circles his arms loosely around Keith’s hips.

“I got you something,” Keith says, tipping Shiro’s chin up. “Close your eyes.”

“You didn’t have to,” Shiro says but closes his anyways. Keith leans down, kisses Shiro square on the mouth, and Shiro opens up for him nicely. Shiro’s a lot better at this when he doesn’t have a mouthful of metal, but kissing him then made Keith’s heart race as much as it does now. He presses Shiro back onto the bed, deepening the kiss, and feels a hand run through his hair, massaging circles into Keith’s scalp. Keith purrs at the pressure, and almost forgets that he actually does have something to show Shiro.

He sits back, but keeps a hand planted on Shiro’s chest so that Shiro stays down. He digs into one of the inner pockets of his jacket and pulls out a thin black corded chain. On it hangs a small shiny rock that the guy at the shop assured Keith was genuine meteorite. It better be, because Keith picked up so many extra shifts to buy  it that he can’t get the smell of fry oil out of his nose.

Keith’s smart with his money. He’s got a hefty amount in his savings from taking odd jobs as a kid and then working at the concession stand. His only expense is his phone bill and his motorcycle, which his dad helps with. But there’s something about Shiro that makes him want to spend money on him and shower him in whatever lavish gifts his part-time job can offer him. He’s had to cut back on spending money on games and things, but it’s a small price to pay, especially when Shiro ends up getting them for him anyways. It’s not that he wants any ownership over Shiro; he just likes the way Shiro looks bashfully surprised at every gift before showering him back in enthusiastic kisses and hugs and whispers about how Keith’s the best person he’s ever met. Shiro likes to do that even when Keith’s not giving him something, but that’s just a detail.

Shiro goes wide-eyed when Keith tells him what it is, and lets Keith hook the necklace around his neck. Keith smooths a palm over the rock, pushing it gently into Shiro’s nightshirt and smiles. His dad’s already given him a lecture about young love, but Keith knows the way he feels for Shiro has sunken deep into his bones. Everyone jokes that they know it’s real love because Keith scooped Shiro up when he was more gangly and spotted, but Keith knows it’s real love because it feels like Shiro’s his everything. It’s less of a fly-high-in-the-air type emotion that has accompanied his past relationships. It’s something more grounded, unfamiliar but welcoming, and stretches out around Keith like the night sky.

“Do you like it?” He asks, voice soft. Shiro makes him feel like he’s raw honey at all times, even after they have their small spats, and the look Shiro gives him before he surges up to kiss Keith makes all the extra shifts worth it.

 

* * *

 

 

Shiro nervously straightens his grey shirt for the fifth time before answering the door. He knows he can wear an ugly sack and Keith will still compliment him till he turns red, but he likes to make an effort.

When he opens the door, Keith’s leaning against the frame. His black leather jacket’s been traded in for a dull red parka, and it doesn’t make Shiro’s heart flutter any less. He grins at Shiro, and Shiro pulls him in by his hand. He encircles a hand around Keith’s waist and kisses him as he shuts the door.

It’s two days before the new year, and Shiro’s grandfather has gone for the week on a cruise. He had shown some reservations about leaving Shiro behind, not wanting Shiro to be alone, but Shiro wanted his grandfather to go have some fun. He also wanted an excuse to have Keith over without constantly being paranoid that his grandfather would walk in on Shiro pushing his hand up Keith’s shirt. Again. Keith’s staying over for a couple of nights, and Shiro’s already stocked the freezer with all the frozen breakfast foods he knows Keith likes. It feels a little sneaky since his grandfather doesn’t know he’s having an extended sleepover, but also a little thrilling.

Shiro hasn’t stopped feeling lucky since Keith accepted the napkin from which Shiro had shyly written his number on. Shiro doesn’t know where that burst of confidence had come from that day in the rec centre, but he thanks it every moment that he’s got Keith in his arms. They sprawl out on the couch with the pizza Shiro had baked while waiting for Keith to come over, and put on a shitty sci-fi movie. Shiro nestles Keith between his legs from where they’re laid out, and buries his chin in his hair. Keith grumbles something about Shiro being too affectionate, and sinks further into Shiro’s chest.

“I got you something,” Shiro says halfway through the movie, when there’s a lull in the action. Keith, who had been dozing off, shuffles so that can turn his head over his shoulder and look at Shiro.

“Yeah?” Keith replies, and Shiro nods. Keith moves up so that he can peck Shiro on the lips, and Shiro can’t help but capture Keith into something deeper. He turns Keith around and hikes him up so that Shiro can get a better angle and paw at more of Keith. Keith’s not only the most attractive person to have every shown interest in Shiro, he’s the most attractive person Shiro’s seen, ever. Shiro’s still not used to the fact that he’s got someone he likes to kiss that actually wants to kiss him back, and he can’t help but take advantage of it at every turn possible.

“Hey,” Keith pushes a hand against Shiro’s chest to break them apart. “I want my gift.”

“Right,” Shiro leans over, and searches under the couch before pulling out a small and rectangular gift-wrapped box. Keith grabs at it greedily, and starts ripping off the silver paper. He opens the black box, and his eyes widen.

It’s a black and rugged atomic watch that’s taken a few months of Shiro saving up from his job as a cashier. He’s seen Keith mention it a couple of times, but has a faint feeling that the money Keith would have originally used for it, he’s spent on Shiro. Shiro doesn’t work as much as Keith because of his extracurriculars, but he made an extra effort to pick up all possible painfully early weekend morning shifts at the grocery store where he works. On the back, Shiro’s gotten Keith’s full name engraved.

“Jesus,” Keith says under his breath as he thumbs the strap of the watch. “Shiro, this is a lot.”

“Nah,” Shiro shrugs, eternally vowing never to take another 4 a.m shift again. Unless of course, he needs to get Keith another grand gift. There’s a high possibility of that happening. “Anything for you. There’s a manual that comes with it too, but it’s kind of big and ugly so I’ll give it to you later. Didn’t want it to ruin the look.”

Keith looks like he’s about to roll his eyes, but he stops midway and gives Shiro an extremely fond look. Shiro takes the watch from him and Keith automatically sticks his hand out. Shiro buckles it on and then pulls the hand forward so that he can brush his lips across the knuckles.

Keith’s normally the one who likes to give gifts; in abundance, really, and Shiro gets flustered over it all the time. Shiro doesn’t think it’s a way of Keith buying Shiro’s affection; Keith knows he has Shiro, that Shiro is completely and utterly devoted to him. Keith sees Shiro as more than just a genial nerd, has seen Shiro beyond whatever boy-next-door image Shiro thinks he projects. Shiro doesn’t think he needs experience in love to articulate how much of the universe he sees in Keith.

Keith flops down onto Shiro, and peppers him with kisses all over his face while Shiro laughs and tries to playfully shove him off. Keith doesn’t let him, so Shiro lets Keith lick into his mouth, still tasting like the pizza they killed in less than ten minutes. Something’s bubbling within Shiro, and he doesn’t bother stepping down on it like he has before. In this moment, he has no doubt in his mind, no second voice questioning if Shiro’s reading into things more than he should be. He opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, Keith beats him to it.

“I love you,” Keith says, and gets a pinched look of determination on his face. “You don’t have to say it back, but I love you.”

Shiro freezes for a second, and despite what he said, Keith’s face visibly drops. Shiro knows his own probably doesn’t look too comforting, so he cards his fingers through Keith’s hair before pulling him down.

“I love you too,” Shiro says, and can taste the smile on Keith when he kisses him again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Epilogue: 85 years later, local news channels interview a couple on their 80th wedding anniversary. It's really cute, especially for the five minutes they argue about what was the exact date they got together
> 
> Title's from Khalid's "Young Dumb & Broke"
> 
> Come say hi to me on [tumblr](http://phaltu.tumblr.com) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/tagteamme)!!


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